Reflections (at different times) on ecumenical or interfaith issues, theology, spirituality, ministry, the arts, politics, popular culture, or life in general ... occasionally, just some funny stuff.

Monday, 25 March 2013

"It's like talking to a brick wall.": a sermon for Good Friday

There was an elderly
man who lived in Jerusalem all his life.He was a devout Orthodox Jew.Every day, since his Bar Mitzvah many years ago, he went to the Wailing
Wall to pray.He did this for
eighty-seven years.

On his 100th
birthday, he was interviewed by journalists from many newspapers.They asked him about his daily prayers at the
Wailing Wall.“For what were you praying
all these years?”

The old man replied,
“I’ve always prayed for the same two things.I’ve prayed for peace, both here in the Holy Land,
and around the world.And I’ve also prayed
that all the races and religions of the world may treat each other with love
and respect.”

After a brief, reverent
silence, a reporter asked, “And how did you feel making this same prayer day
after day at the Wailing Wall?”

The old man thought a
bit and said, “Sometimes I felt like I was talking to a brick wall.”

And sometimes – in the
divine-human encounter – sometimes that feeling is mutual.I am sure that sometimes God will say the
same thing: “Sometimes I felt like I was talking to a brick wall.”

Over the centuries, and
to our own day, God keeps asking humanity to practise peace, social justice,
and mercy, to regard each other with love and respect.Sometimes, the result from us is
disappointing.Perhaps God may wish to
ask us “What part of ‘Love your neighbour’ don’t you understand?”I’m sure God must frequently say something like
this in regard to us: “Sometimes I felt like I was talking to a brick wall.”

And in the midst of it
all God somehow determined, “Right, I’m going in there myself to sort it
out.”And on this day – this day we
ironically call Good Friday – we remember the full extent of God’s
self-giving on behalf of humanity.We
remember a self-giving that was the result of God wanting to knock down the
brick walls that we put up around our hearts and our minds.

And you would have
thought the violence that God – in the person of Jesus - received at the hands
of humanity was enough for God to decide to cut humanity out of the will, to
leave us to our own devices.

But it wasn’t enough
for God.Good Friday was not the end of
the story.(The most we can ever say at
the end of a sermon or a worship service on Good Friday is “to be
continued”.)After Good Friday, Easter
Day soon follows.

After the pain of Good
Friday, we hear the good news of the resurrection morning.Human violence did not have the last
word.God’s love continues to claim the
last word.

Some things do not
change.I’m sure God still says in
regard to us: “Sometimes I felt like I was talking to a brick wall.”

But the events of
Easter Day have enabled God to knock down the brick walls we put up around our
hearts, around, our minds, around our lives.

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About Me

I grew up in the United States and have lived in Australia since 1980. I'm a retired (recycled?) minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. At various times, I've been a parish minister, ecumenical staffer, and hospital chaplain. Some of my interests include theology, liturgy, ecumenism, interfaith relations, history, politics, the arts, humour, and Christmas in popular culture. (I did my doctorate on Advent and Christmas as a "season of opportunity" for churches to relate to their communities.)